Internet Rush Hour: The Art of Doing Nothing, at the Right Time

September 13, 2019

Internet rush hour can cause major speed delays. Find out how to fix your wifi connection and pick up the speed.

The only thing worse than rush hour in the car, is internet rush hour at home, which occurs every day across the country from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. When everyone is competing to surf the web, download files and play online games, it can be difficult to accomplish anything online.

Downloading large files during peak internet rush hour can be frustrating. Avoid long buffering times by saving it for another time, like overnight while you sleep. You’ll get what you need by morning, and you won’t have to sit by your computer waiting for the download to complete. Think of all the things you can do when you’re not surfing the net. Take that time to cook, catch up with your family or watch TV. But if you must download, keep on reading to see what you can do to improve your internet speed.

Use an Ethernet cable

While it’s nice to have wireless connections, beating internet rush hour may call for the added support of an ethernet cable. For faster speeds and a more reliable internet connection, use an ethernet cable to plug in any devices within reach of your router. Doing so will also help save bandwidth for the devices you didn’t plug in but that are still using your home wifi. Having a few cables isn’t so bad it if means faster speeds.

Turn-Off Extra Devices

The more devices competing to use your wifi, the slower the connection. Even unused gadgets that are connected to the internet are using up small amounts of bandwidth. Having tablets, phones, smart TVs and computers all connected to the internet at once can significantly reduce internet speed. Pick a device to work on and unplug the rest to improve speed.

Relocate Your Router

The signals sent out from your router to your devices tend to have a short range. And any objects surrounding it can potentially block the signals. If you’re using the internet during rush hour, one way to speed things up is to get closer to your router. Another way to get a better connection is to relocate it to a more central location where the signals can reach more rooms. A mesh network adapter or Cox Panoramic Wifi Pods can also help deliver high levels of connectivity to areas that suffer from low internet speeds.

Turn-Off Applications

Applications can be quietly running in the background of your devices, slowly drawing data without your awareness. Check to see which are the culprits by opening up the “Task Manager” on your computer. Then scan your network section to see what items are drawing data. Stop applications you don’t need from running in the background to help improve speeds.

Internet rush hour may only last for a few hours every day, but if that’s when you plan to hop online, it can ruin your experience. You can make a few adjustments to see if your wifi speed picks up, or do nothing. When all else fails, remember – traffic will eventually clear.